I have suffered race discrimination
First, let’s define race in law.
It can mean your:
- Colour
- Nationality
- Citizenship
- Ethnic or national origins (which may not be the same as your current nationality)
- Ethnic or racial group
Note that a racial group can be made up of two or more racial groups, such as black Britons, British Asians, British Sikhs, British Jews, Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers.
And now, here’s a brief description of the different types of discrimination:
- Direct e.g. an employer won’t give you a job because of your race
- Indirect e.g. a hairdresser won’t employ Muslims or Sikhs who cover their hair
- Harassment e.g. a employee is insulted by being called racist names that colleagues think is just ‘banter’
- Victimisation e.g. an employee wants to make a formal complaint about racist behaviour and is sacked, or a colleague suffers detriment because they try to support someone who’s been the victim of race discrimination
You are protected against mis-treatment due to race discrimination under the Equality Act 2010. It could be a one-off action or as a result of a rule or policy based on race. It doesn’t have to be intentional to be unlawful.
It doesn’t matter what ethnic or racial group you belong to (or are perceived to belong to), you should be treated the same way as everyone else at work.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case, as these examples show…
Example 1
Natalie James and Joanna Saine worked for London and Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q). When there was a chance of promotion to three leadership vacancies, they applied.
There were six internal candidates, of which three were white and three were black or mixed race.
Two of the white applicants were appointed, and the third vacancy was advertised externally, because the company said the three black candidates were not “not appointable”.
As a result of this, Natalie and Joanna made claims of race discrimination at the employment tribunal, funded by The Equality and Human Rights Commission.
The tribunal found the hiring manager made decisions on a subjective view of who would “fit in”, instead of objectively considering the applicants’ qualifications and suitability for the job.
In the interview process:
- The hiring manager failed to record all of the information provided during Natalie’s and Joanna’s interviews
- The HR Recruitment Advisor deferred to the hiring manager
Their complaints of race discrimination were upheld, and they each received a financial settlement – Natalie was granted £64,000 and Joanna almost £31,000.
Example 2
Andrea Mairs began teaching at Kings Road Primary School in Manchester, in 2001.
By 2016, she had frequently complained about micro-aggressions and the use of race-related language at the school. Her complaints included:
- A photograph in a school art display of a child wearing a label that said “blackcurrant”
- A photograph illustrating the phrase ‘making ends meet’, which pictured a Ugandan family in poverty
- A magician who came to the school and referred to the children as “little monkeys”
- When the headmaster directed a parent who alleged racism to talk to Andrea as a fellow black person
- As a sanction for bad behaviour, children being left to stand outside against the wall in cold weather. She said: “Black children feel the cold more than white children”
In 2019, six members of the senior leadership team (SLT) lodged a grievance against Andrea because she “regularly threatens staff with formal action”, which “caused anxiety and distress”.
After this, Andrea was off sick for three weeks, and then took time off to “think about how she could move forward”.
On advice, she lodged a grievance accusing the SLT of racial discrimination and “Blackophobia” because of them being uncomfortable around her and them complaining about not being able to use the word Black.
The SLT said Andrea’s grievance was “retaliatory, vengeful, slanderous, malicious, amounted to harassment, and was aimed at deflecting and steering away issues raised by the SLT”.
Mr Hanif, the investigating officer, said the relationship between Andrea and the SLT had broken down.
Andrea appealed the finding, but it was upheld.
By 2020, after being off sick for almost a year, Andrea was ready to return to the school, backed by occupational health. However, each member of the SLT refused to work with her, for example, writing:
- “I wish to give formal notice that should this employee return to work at Kings Road I would be completely unable to enter the building and continue with the job I love so dearly”
- “I cannot and will not work with the employee if they return to work”
Andrea’s union representative described this as a ‘wild cat strike’.
The chair of governors, Mr O Keefe suspended Andrea from her role – not as disciplinary action but only while an investigation took place.
The investigation was conducted by external HR consultant, Ms Long. This took another year, and concluded that: “there was an irretrievable breakdown in the relationship”. The recommendation was a dismissal meeting.
On 28 February 2022, the school told Andrea she was being dismissed.
When she appealed against it, that was dismissed as well.
Andrea went to the Liverpool employment tribunal with claims of unfair dismissal, race discrimination by victimisation, unauthorised deduction from wages and breach of contract.
The tribunal found Andrea had more than 19 years as a teacher, with an unblemished performance record. She was doted on by the children and their parents, and no one had taken steps to address any conduct or performance issues.
It was ruled that the letters from the SLT members used “highly emotive language”, were “excessive”, and “overclaiming in impact”
The school failed to consider any alternatives to dismissal, and that the decision to instigate an investigation conducted by an external HR professional amounted to a detriment against Andrea because it prevented her return to work
All her claims were upheld.
Employment judge Aspinall conceded that Andrea’s complaints were at times “harsh and inappropriate”. The amount of the basic award is to be determined, but will be reduced by 33% to reflect the fact that Andrea was “a difficult colleague”.
Example 3
Bindu Parmar is a British national of Indian origin, who worked for Leicester City Council for more than 30 years. In 2005, she took the role of Head of Service for Locality West within the Adult Social Care and Safeguarding Division, where she was responsible for overseeing multiple teams.
After claims that she was acting inappropriately in correspondence with her colleagues, she was subjected to a disciplinary investigation by her line manager, a senior staff member at the council, in January 2021.
The investigation “dragged on and on”, despite no evidence to suggest Bindu’s behaviour had been inappropriate or that she had behaved negatively towards her colleagues.
She made allegations of racial discrimination but no wider internal investigation took place in response.
She was later dismissed from her role, and decided to take legal action against her former employer via UNISON, her trade union, as she no longer feels she can return to her job as a social worker because of the stress and anxiety caused by the treatment she endured.
In April 2023, the initial employment tribunal found the investigation into Bindu’s conduct lacked substance, and that there was ‘no other credible explanation’ for her treatment other than racial discrimination.
Leicester City Council appealed the judgment but the Employment Appeal Judge upheld the tribunal’s decision, saying that the council racially discriminated against her.
The Council has now submitted a further application for permission to appeal the EAT judgment to the Court of Appeal. Meanwhile, Bindu is also bringing an unfair dismissal claim against Leicester City Council.
Exceptions
There are a few occasions when it IS lawful to be treated differently because of your racial or ethnic group. These include:
- When belonging to a particular race is essential for the job. This is called an occupational requirement. For example, an organisation can say that it only wants to employ someone with South Asian origins when they want to recruit a support worker for a domestic violence advice service for South Asian women
- When an organisation is taking positive action to encourage or develop people in a racial group that is under-represented or disadvantaged in a role or activity. For example, a broadcaster gets hardly any applicants for its graduate recruitment programme from Black Caribbean candidates so it sets up a work experience and mentoring programme for Black Caribbean students to encourage them into the industry
- When a bank states that in order to be eligible to open an account you need to have been resident in the UK for 12 months and have a permanent address. For example, a Somalian man has not lived in the UK for long enough. In this case, the bank would need to prove that its policy was necessary for business reasons (such as to prevent fraud) and that there was no practical alternative
(These examples are from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.)
What this means to you
As with many legal matters, dealing with race discrimination is complicated!
Your employer should not base decisions on subjective views or gut feelings, as this increases the risk of stereotyping and unconscious bias. They should have fair interview processes and systems in place to prevent discrimination.
If you’ve suffered race discrimination at work, give us a call. We deal with cases like yours all the time, and can advise what to do and your chances of winning. The first call is free and without obligation, so do get in touch and we’ll let you know how we can help.
Related reading
For more information on this subject, you might like to read our related articles. These include:
- I’m paid less because of my race
- Race discrimination at work
- Race discrimination: Has it happened to you?
- When does race discrimination occur?
- I’m a white man and I’ve been discriminated against
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